filmmaker & author

Letters to Liesl

While Forever Liesl told the story of meeting the real von Trapps and the making of The Sound of Music, Strauss and Carr’s second book together revolved around two things which happened after the book was released: Charmy received approximately four thousand emails from fans in the first weeks and the BBC took her and the six other actors who portrayed the von Trapp children back to Salzburg – thirty-six years after they’d filmed there. Letters to Liesl is the nostalgic journey of both the fans who’ve given the film life for over forty years, and the actors, now middle-aged, revisiting the site where their lives were irrevocably changed.

Strauss remembers: “By the time we were writing Letters, Singalong Sound of Music was just coming to the United States, and Charmy was their ambassador for the opening in each major city. The phenomenon of the Singalongs just blew us both away, from the costumes (audience members dress up like characters from the film) to passion with which the audience belts out the songs (the words are up on the screen for those few individuals who don’t know them by heart). Singalong created a whole new experience for lifelong Sound of Music fans, as well as introducing a whole new generation to the film and the music. Letters to Liesl was a wonderful companion piece to the film event, and of course, to Forever Liesl.